With the increased popularity of smart telephones, tablets, and other mobile devices, there has been a similar increase in the amount of data handled by the networks of mobile operators. To reduce the strain on network infrastructure and to reduce network transfer costs, mobile operators are shifting from offering unlimited mobile data plans to offering capped and metered plans. With some of the capped and metered plans, the fees for exceeding the allotted data caps may be significant. While some existing web browsers attempt to optimize data traffic, the existing systems generally lack mechanisms for balancing specific needs of each user with data transfer costs. Further, some of the existing systems are unable to accurately track and attribute the amount of data consumed under the plans.
As a result, with the existing systems, users can unknowingly exceed the allotted data caps and experience bandwidth throttling (e.g., a reduction or limit placed upon the rate of consumption) and/or be presented with a much larger than normal monthly bill, resulting in “bill shock.” Throttling and bill shock can impact the user experience, leading to dissatisfied customers, increased customer service calls, and negative impressions of the mobile operators.